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McDonald County, Missouri: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in McDonald County is 184.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 174 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (68), Rail grade crossing (40), Industrial wastewater discharge (24). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 in a million, driven mainly by formaldehyde.

Rates are age-adjusted per 100,000 people. A cancer signal is marked significant when the lower bound of its 95 percent confidence interval is above the U.S. rate. Facility counts use active federal records located inside the county boundary. Approximate county center: 36.6291, -94.345.

How this county ranks in Missouri

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Cancer deaths and new cases versus the United States

Source: NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles, both sexes, all ages. Sorted by the ratio of the county rate to the U.S. rate.

Cancer rates for McDonald County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	49.1	30.2	1.63xSignificant	38.3 to 62.2	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	17.2	13	1.32x	10.3 to 26.9	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	184.9	143.2	1.29xSignificant	162.4 to 209.8	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	65.2	51.8	1.26xSignificant	52.8 to 79.8	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.1	17.9	1.23x	14.8 to 32.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	12.6	11.3	1.12x	7.4 to 20.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	15	13.9	1.08x	9.3 to 23.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	19.3	18.7	1.03x	12.7 to 28.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	450.7	453.4	0.99x	415.2 to 488.5	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13.1	14.5	0.9x	7.6 to 21.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	15.5	18.5	0.84x	9.4 to 24.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	11.6	23.8	0.49x	6.5 to 19.2	2019-2023

Mortality measures versus the U.S. county median

Source: County Health Rankings, built from CDC National Vital Statistics System death records. The comparison value is the median of all U.S. counties.

Mortality measures for McDonald County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,425.1	9,842.6	+26%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.2	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	89.8	59.8	+50%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	9.3	6.2	+50%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	95.9	96.9	-1%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	n/a	28.6	n/a	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde20.87 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde1.9 per million
Pahpom0.86 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

No EPA air quality monitor reports daily AQI for this county.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

174 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit68
Rail grade crossing40
Industrial wastewater discharge24
Air permit holder (minor source)13
Gas station (mapped facility)10
Small hazardous waste generator4
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)4
Public airport3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)3
Landfill (mapped facility)2
TRI reporting facility2
Brownfield property1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

Tyson Chicken Inc. - Noel Complex, Noel
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia, Peracetic acid. 1,323,805 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 64854HDSNFHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.7
Simmons Foods, South West City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia, Peracetic acid, Hydrogen sulfide and 1 more. 280,944 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 64863SMMNSHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.2
Simmons Foods Inc- Southwest City, Southwest City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017984118 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.4
Roxell Usa Inc., Anderson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Nickel, Manganese, Copper and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 4 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 64831GLMNF72IND (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5
Southwestern Creations Llc, South West City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 6486WSTHWS11PPL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
The Stateline Store, Pineville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012667453 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Roxell Usa Inc, Anderson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037150212 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.1
Tyson Chicken Inc Noel, Mo., Noel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000443994 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Pineville Pws-Treatment Well # 3- Mountain Ridge, Pineville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009874190 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Simmons Foods Inc- Southwest City, Southwest City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017984118 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Bella Vista Quarry, Pineville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070693044 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Marshal And Noel Addition, Noel
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972617 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Anderson Wwtf, Anderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010283772 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Anderson Wwtf, Anderson
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0025801: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Noel Wwtp, Noel
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0054721: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.5
Southwest City Wwtf, South West City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037500488 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Jane Quarry, Jane
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011111233 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
State Line Septic Inc, Noel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070667408 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Holden Industries, South West City
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015928889 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
despription=illegal dump
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1347880257 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
despription=illegal dump
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1347880258 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Lanagan Housing Authority 2 Wwtp, Lanagan
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0100251: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.8
Goodman Wwtp, Goodman
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009870844 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Opal Foods, Llc - Anderson, Anderson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017697321 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Simmons Foods Inc- Southwest City, Southwest City
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017984118 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for McDonald County

Missouri state cancer registry
Cancer incidence counts by census tract or ZIP code, by cancer type and year (de-identified). Any cancer cluster inquiries or investigations in McDonald County, and their findings.
Missouri vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Missouri health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Missouri environmental agency and the U.S. EPA regional office
Compliance history, inspection reports, notices of violation, penalties and enforcement actions for each facility above, cited by EPA FRS registry ID.
Missouri drinking water program
Violation notices, sampling results and sanitary surveys for the public water systems serving the county, including any system serving a correctional facility.
Department of corrections or county sheriff
Water testing, grievances and environmental health inspections for the correctional facilities listed above.

Each Envyrofax address report includes a printable records request worksheet with the custodian and the exact request wording per finding.

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